Tenth World Cup victory: Taubitz makes the fewest mistakes

Winterberg (FIL): Julia Taubitz stretched her right arm towards the sky. To her own surprise, the 24-year-old from Oberwiesenthal had won the women's race in the EBERSPÄCHER World Cup in Winterberg. It is her tenth World Cup victory. "During my second run I didn't think I had done enough," she admitted at the finish, "I made some mistakes." For one thing, she had slid before the finish curve in run two. "That's when I picked up a few more drift points." But she also hadn't got off to the best possible start. "The crucial thing is the start, you have to hit straight through that," she said, explaining, "There are two corners in there at the top. You have to paddle fast and then steer." Nevertheless, last season's overall World Cup winner still managed this best.

Natalie Geisenberger, who as the leader after the first run had World Cup victory number 50 in sight, touched the wall of the ice track twice. This left her in second place, 0.106 seconds behind. The fifth second place in the fifth race of this season. "I haven't had the victory so close for a long time," complained the 32-year-old from Miesbach, "but second place isn't a disaster either." But this consistency still secures the four-time Olympic champion the lead in the overall standings with 425 points ahead of Taubitz (391).

Overjoyed was Eliza Tiruma in third. "I am already a little surprised," said the Latvian, "I can do what I want in this track, it just works." In February, she had achieved her only World Cup victory on the track in Sauerland. Yet the 30-year-old has a small handicap. Because of an injury to the shoulder, she had to begin start training late. "That's why my start was not so good," she explained.

The start was also Dajana Eitberger's undoing. In the first run, the Oberhof winner bumped twice - 26th place out of 28 racers. In the second run, she managed a best run time in 56.201 seconds. "I risked a bit today and took a full risk," she said, "in the second run I used the bib and remembered what I can do."      

The results of the 4th EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Winterberg (GER) are available at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-3

The overall World Cup standings are available using the following link:
https://www.fil-luge.org/de/gesamtstaende?event_season_id=28